Mrs. Bush's Remarks at "Bridges of Hope: Educating Children for a Better Future," the Kuwait-America Foundation's 2006 Benefit Dinner
Residence of the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait
Washington, D.C.

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very, very much, Ambassador. Thank you for your
kind words, and thanks very much to you and the Kuwait-America
Foundation for this award.

I'm privileged to be able to call attention to issues that touch me
personally, like the education of girls. And, of course, I'm thrilled
that tonight's dinner benefits UNICEF and its work in Afghanistan.

I'd like to confirm what you said about your wonderful wife. When Rima
sets her mind on a goal, it's only a matter of time before it's
accomplished. So thank you, Rima, for bringing awareness to this very
important cause. (Applause.)

I want to acknowledge the other honorees -- Secretary Condi Rice, so
glad she's here with us tonight; Michael Douglas. The members of the
Cabinet who are here, as well, tonight -- Margaret Spellings. I know
there are other members here, too, that I think are at other tables --
Secretary Chertoff, Secretary Jackson. There are probably more -- I
shouldn't have started. (Laughter.) But anyway, thank all of you
Cabinet members for coming. (Applause.)

I want to also especially recognize Ann Veneman, the Executive Director
of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. (Applause.) Ann is the
former Secretary of Agriculture, and I know she's doing an excellent job
at UNICEF now. Thank you for your great work, Ann.

The members of Congress who are here, the members of the Supreme Court
and all the ambassadors -- Marvin Hamlisch, thank you for joining us
tonight. Distinguished guests, thanks everyone here tonight for
supporting UNICEF and their work in Afghanistan.

Every year, on March 8th, citizens around the world commemorate
International Women's Day. I've met with thousands of women from many
nations, and I believe that women everywhere share the same dreams: to
be educated, to live in peace, to enjoy good health, to be prosperous,
and to be heard. And, of course, these dreams start with the education
of girls.

Rima mentioned the millions of Afghan girls who now attend school. Each
of these girls has a chance to achieve dreams that once seemed
impossible. Last week, when President Bush and I met with President
Karzai and his wife, Dr. Karzai, Dr. Karzai told me that they think that
now there are about six million children in school and about half of
that number are girls. And she's a living example of how women once had
access to education and advancement in Afghan society.

When I met with her, I also met with women leaders, women ministers in
the new government, as well, and these women, from that generation of
Afghan women, want today's Afghan girls to have the chance to become
doctors themselves or businesswomen or government officials or anything
they want to be. And the people of the United States are proud to stand
with the people of Afghanistan.

Last year, I visited the Women's Teacher Training Institute in Kabul,
which was established through a partnership between the government of
Afghanistan and USAID. At the Institute, which is also a dorm so that
women can come in from the provinces and have a safe place to stay when
they're being trained, they're trained to be teachers, and then they go
home and train other teachers in a cascading effect, with an attempt to
train about 6,000 teachers in a very short amount of time, so the
schools that UNICEF can build in Afghanistan will have teachers. And
women teachers are also especially important, because many families
still want their girls to be educated by women, and not to be in either
a co-ed situation or in a situation with men teachers.

Afghan women teachers are being trained here in the United States. I've
met with every single class since 2001 that have been going to the
University of Nebraska. These women come in, study at the University of
Nebraska, and you might now know that the University of Nebraska has a
special course in Middle East or Far East studies for these teachers --
Dari and Pashtu and the other languages that people in Afghanistan
speak.

These women, the teachers that are studying here at the University of
Nebraska, live with American families, and you can just imagine what
those families are like in Nebraska that open their homes to Afghan
teachers. And every time I've had -- it's been really fun to be able to
ask each class as they've come to the White House on their way back home
what their families have been like, and they're shocked because they
don't expect Americans to be so generous and so decent and so kind like
all of us know these families would be, like families all over our whole
country.

Programs that train teachers are especially important, and I want to
thank the partnerships like UNICEF, the Kuwait-America Foundation, and
all of the other -- USAID -- all of the other groups that are --
Afghan-American Women's Council -- that are working to make sure boys
and girls are educated in Afghanistan.

And I want everyone here to know, and especially the people of
Afghanistan, that the United States are steadfast partners in their
development.

I'm honored to receive this award tonight, and I'm grateful that we're
working together to help the people of Afghanistan find the peace and
the success that they deserve.